Still Fighting has moved! Check us out at
www.stillfighting.com!
December 29, 2005
Thursday, February 24, 2005
Thursday's Links
Activism
Have you heard about the ridiculous ad that USA Next was planning to air? Dissatisfied with the way the AARP has logically shot down Bush's Social Security plan, USA Next plans to air an ad that claims that the "real" AARP agenda does not support our troops, and encourages gay marriage. This smear campaign, with absolutely no basis in fact, is the brainchild of the same people who ran the Swift Boat ads against Kerry. We encourage you to go here and sign DFA's petition to ban this ad. The petition will be delivered to every television station that ran the Swift Boat ads, or currently runs ads similar to this one. The Left Coaster has an extremely good writeup on this entire mess.
News
So much news, so little time! There are a lot of stories we'd like to share with you, but we worry about overload. But if we wait too long, these important stories might fade away. Therefore, we're going to present a few extra stories, and cut down on the prose a bit. Here goes nothing:
Guess Who's Trying to Infiltrate Iraq?. We'll give you two guesses. No, silly, the U.S. doesn't count - we already did that! The U.S. has new intel indicating that Tehran is trying to meddle in the fledgling Iraqi government. We can't really blame them - you can bet we'd be concerned if someone destroyed Mexico and trying to rebuild it from scratch. Will they undermine our efforts there, like many have predicted they would try? For everyone's sake, we certainly hope not.
Now in Power, Conservatives Free to Differ. This is really not surpising, although we were kind of hoping that complacency would lead to the downfall of the conservatives. But read some of the quotes from these people, many of whom are trying to figure out how to turn America into a theocracy. Democrats need to have these debates internally, figure out an approach to combat the conservatives, and then fight back with one voice, without sniping or hedging their bets.
What the Public Believes. Well, they're catching on, slowly but surely. The latest Harris Poll shows that 59% favor bringing the troops home in the next year (up from 47% in November), 48% believe the war in Iraq weakened the war on terror, and 46% believed that the U.N. weapons inspectors were effective. It's also interesting to look at the falsehoods that people still believe, like that 47% (up from 41%!) believe that Saddam supported and helped the hijackers involved in 9/11. Still, there's waning support for the war, and the truth is slowly seeping out - now we need to continue those trends and use them in the 2006 elections.
Chirac Backs German Call for Revamp of NATO. Amid all the glad-handing and butt-kissing, a picture from Bush's current European tour is starting to emerge. And while, on the face of things, it looks like Bush and the Europeans are kissing and making up, there are still some serious differences. If you read between the lines, it's basically Bush saying that it's too late for them to change what happened in Iraq, so they might as well just climb aboard and agree with our policies. Germany and France, in particular, are wary of America's growing power in the world, and seem to be uniting to push back. This particular story is quite symbolic, as NATO is essentially US-controlled.
No Child Moves Forward. A panel of bipartisan state lawmakers has deemed NCLB too rigid, and that it creates performance standards that are designed to fail. Parts also contradict other federal Education legislature. If you're not sure why parents, teachers, and the NEA have been against NCLB since it's inception in 2002, here's a good look at why.
Editorials
What's the Incentive? We know that there's very little accountability required by the Bush Administration, especially when it comes to Iraq. Wouldn't it be nice to see the press call them on it? Anthony Wheeler of Nieman Watchdog presents some important questions that the media might ask involving accountability and incentives. He also points out how politicians have little incentive to present details during their campaign because that leaves them open to detailed scrutiny of their policies. Scrutiny of policy details? Gosh, that would be catastrophic!
Georgie Bush and the Tapes. One of the things we like about Howard Fineman, over at MSNBC, is the way he approaches an editorial. He finds a different angle, and sets himself apart from other columnists. He's no different in his most recent, where he discusses the Wead tapes. He recounts two stories about young Bush that show he's not the simple-minded pawn of Karl Rove many believe him to be. He's shrewd, he's smart, and he's vengeful. He reminds us of Jules, from Pulp Fiction. Only, if you don't agree with him, he won't shoot you - he'll just invade and occupy you.
We leave you today with a troika of Social Security editorials. First, the Washington Post offers a brief explanation of where the current system came from, and how it works. Robert Samuelson explains why a 1960 Supreme Court decision disproves any case for Bush's plan, and exposes how the "borrowing" of funds will hurt Americans as surely as a payroll tax. Finally, Robert Kuttner, over at The American Prospect, evaluates Bush's battle for Social Security, and why it's going to be harder to win than anything other fight he's faced so far.
|
December 29, 2005
Thursday, February 24, 2005
Thursday's Links
Activism
Have you heard about the ridiculous ad that USA Next was planning to air? Dissatisfied with the way the AARP has logically shot down Bush's Social Security plan, USA Next plans to air an ad that claims that the "real" AARP agenda does not support our troops, and encourages gay marriage. This smear campaign, with absolutely no basis in fact, is the brainchild of the same people who ran the Swift Boat ads against Kerry. We encourage you to go here and sign DFA's petition to ban this ad. The petition will be delivered to every television station that ran the Swift Boat ads, or currently runs ads similar to this one. The Left Coaster has an extremely good writeup on this entire mess.
News
So much news, so little time! There are a lot of stories we'd like to share with you, but we worry about overload. But if we wait too long, these important stories might fade away. Therefore, we're going to present a few extra stories, and cut down on the prose a bit. Here goes nothing:
Guess Who's Trying to Infiltrate Iraq?. We'll give you two guesses. No, silly, the U.S. doesn't count - we already did that! The U.S. has new intel indicating that Tehran is trying to meddle in the fledgling Iraqi government. We can't really blame them - you can bet we'd be concerned if someone destroyed Mexico and trying to rebuild it from scratch. Will they undermine our efforts there, like many have predicted they would try? For everyone's sake, we certainly hope not.
Now in Power, Conservatives Free to Differ. This is really not surpising, although we were kind of hoping that complacency would lead to the downfall of the conservatives. But read some of the quotes from these people, many of whom are trying to figure out how to turn America into a theocracy. Democrats need to have these debates internally, figure out an approach to combat the conservatives, and then fight back with one voice, without sniping or hedging their bets.
What the Public Believes. Well, they're catching on, slowly but surely. The latest Harris Poll shows that 59% favor bringing the troops home in the next year (up from 47% in November), 48% believe the war in Iraq weakened the war on terror, and 46% believed that the U.N. weapons inspectors were effective. It's also interesting to look at the falsehoods that people still believe, like that 47% (up from 41%!) believe that Saddam supported and helped the hijackers involved in 9/11. Still, there's waning support for the war, and the truth is slowly seeping out - now we need to continue those trends and use them in the 2006 elections.
Chirac Backs German Call for Revamp of NATO. Amid all the glad-handing and butt-kissing, a picture from Bush's current European tour is starting to emerge. And while, on the face of things, it looks like Bush and the Europeans are kissing and making up, there are still some serious differences. If you read between the lines, it's basically Bush saying that it's too late for them to change what happened in Iraq, so they might as well just climb aboard and agree with our policies. Germany and France, in particular, are wary of America's growing power in the world, and seem to be uniting to push back. This particular story is quite symbolic, as NATO is essentially US-controlled.
No Child Moves Forward. A panel of bipartisan state lawmakers has deemed NCLB too rigid, and that it creates performance standards that are designed to fail. Parts also contradict other federal Education legislature. If you're not sure why parents, teachers, and the NEA have been against NCLB since it's inception in 2002, here's a good look at why.
Editorials
What's the Incentive? We know that there's very little accountability required by the Bush Administration, especially when it comes to Iraq. Wouldn't it be nice to see the press call them on it? Anthony Wheeler of Nieman Watchdog presents some important questions that the media might ask involving accountability and incentives. He also points out how politicians have little incentive to present details during their campaign because that leaves them open to detailed scrutiny of their policies. Scrutiny of policy details? Gosh, that would be catastrophic!
Georgie Bush and the Tapes. One of the things we like about Howard Fineman, over at MSNBC, is the way he approaches an editorial. He finds a different angle, and sets himself apart from other columnists. He's no different in his most recent, where he discusses the Wead tapes. He recounts two stories about young Bush that show he's not the simple-minded pawn of Karl Rove many believe him to be. He's shrewd, he's smart, and he's vengeful. He reminds us of Jules, from Pulp Fiction. Only, if you don't agree with him, he won't shoot you - he'll just invade and occupy you.
We leave you today with a troika of Social Security editorials. First, the Washington Post offers a brief explanation of where the current system came from, and how it works. Robert Samuelson explains why a 1960 Supreme Court decision disproves any case for Bush's plan, and exposes how the "borrowing" of funds will hurt Americans as surely as a payroll tax. Finally, Robert Kuttner, over at The American Prospect, evaluates Bush's battle for Social Security, and why it's going to be harder to win than anything other fight he's faced so far.
|
December 29, 2005
Have you heard about the ridiculous ad that USA Next was planning to air? Dissatisfied with the way the AARP has logically shot down Bush's Social Security plan, USA Next plans to air an ad that claims that the "real" AARP agenda does not support our troops, and encourages gay marriage. This smear campaign, with absolutely no basis in fact, is the brainchild of the same people who ran the Swift Boat ads against Kerry. We encourage you to go here and sign DFA's petition to ban this ad. The petition will be delivered to every television station that ran the Swift Boat ads, or currently runs ads similar to this one. The Left Coaster has an extremely good writeup on this entire mess.
News
So much news, so little time! There are a lot of stories we'd like to share with you, but we worry about overload. But if we wait too long, these important stories might fade away. Therefore, we're going to present a few extra stories, and cut down on the prose a bit. Here goes nothing:
Guess Who's Trying to Infiltrate Iraq?. We'll give you two guesses. No, silly, the U.S. doesn't count - we already did that! The U.S. has new intel indicating that Tehran is trying to meddle in the fledgling Iraqi government. We can't really blame them - you can bet we'd be concerned if someone destroyed Mexico and trying to rebuild it from scratch. Will they undermine our efforts there, like many have predicted they would try? For everyone's sake, we certainly hope not.
Now in Power, Conservatives Free to Differ. This is really not surpising, although we were kind of hoping that complacency would lead to the downfall of the conservatives. But read some of the quotes from these people, many of whom are trying to figure out how to turn America into a theocracy. Democrats need to have these debates internally, figure out an approach to combat the conservatives, and then fight back with one voice, without sniping or hedging their bets.
What the Public Believes. Well, they're catching on, slowly but surely. The latest Harris Poll shows that 59% favor bringing the troops home in the next year (up from 47% in November), 48% believe the war in Iraq weakened the war on terror, and 46% believed that the U.N. weapons inspectors were effective. It's also interesting to look at the falsehoods that people still believe, like that 47% (up from 41%!) believe that Saddam supported and helped the hijackers involved in 9/11. Still, there's waning support for the war, and the truth is slowly seeping out - now we need to continue those trends and use them in the 2006 elections.
Chirac Backs German Call for Revamp of NATO. Amid all the glad-handing and butt-kissing, a picture from Bush's current European tour is starting to emerge. And while, on the face of things, it looks like Bush and the Europeans are kissing and making up, there are still some serious differences. If you read between the lines, it's basically Bush saying that it's too late for them to change what happened in Iraq, so they might as well just climb aboard and agree with our policies. Germany and France, in particular, are wary of America's growing power in the world, and seem to be uniting to push back. This particular story is quite symbolic, as NATO is essentially US-controlled.
No Child Moves Forward. A panel of bipartisan state lawmakers has deemed NCLB too rigid, and that it creates performance standards that are designed to fail. Parts also contradict other federal Education legislature. If you're not sure why parents, teachers, and the NEA have been against NCLB since it's inception in 2002, here's a good look at why.
Editorials
What's the Incentive? We know that there's very little accountability required by the Bush Administration, especially when it comes to Iraq. Wouldn't it be nice to see the press call them on it? Anthony Wheeler of Nieman Watchdog presents some important questions that the media might ask involving accountability and incentives. He also points out how politicians have little incentive to present details during their campaign because that leaves them open to detailed scrutiny of their policies. Scrutiny of policy details? Gosh, that would be catastrophic!
Georgie Bush and the Tapes. One of the things we like about Howard Fineman, over at MSNBC, is the way he approaches an editorial. He finds a different angle, and sets himself apart from other columnists. He's no different in his most recent, where he discusses the Wead tapes. He recounts two stories about young Bush that show he's not the simple-minded pawn of Karl Rove many believe him to be. He's shrewd, he's smart, and he's vengeful. He reminds us of Jules, from Pulp Fiction. Only, if you don't agree with him, he won't shoot you - he'll just invade and occupy you.
We leave you today with a troika of Social Security editorials. First, the Washington Post offers a brief explanation of where the current system came from, and how it works. Robert Samuelson explains why a 1960 Supreme Court decision disproves any case for Bush's plan, and exposes how the "borrowing" of funds will hurt Americans as surely as a payroll tax. Finally, Robert Kuttner, over at The American Prospect, evaluates Bush's battle for Social Security, and why it's going to be harder to win than anything other fight he's faced so far.
